Beneath the Badlands
Tech Artist, Gameplay Programmer
Project Overview
Beneath the Badlands is an action/horror roguelike set in a Western Steampunk world. Players take on the role of Aster, a gristly bounty hunter, as they traverse beneath the Badlands in hopes of discovering the truth behind the this desolate town and saving their partner.
With a core team of 45 students, Beneath the Badlands is a collaborative capstone project made in Unreal Engine over the course of 6 months.
My Role
Tool Development
Developed multiple vertex animation materials using HLSL
Created blueprint tool and documentation for vertex animation materials focusing on ease-of-use for environment artists
Designed a customizable triplanar material focusing on micro and macro variation
Blueprinting
Created core environmental blueprints such as the Vending Machine and Elevator
Designed structure of and implemented UI
Collaborated with the lead UI artist to design UI
Performed maintenance to game features as more content was integrated
Worked on core features of character movement like sliding and vaulting
Worked on key blueprint for level transitions
Management
Perforce management assistance
Organized and led the team using Scrum during the final sprint
Gear Material Function and Tool
This blueprint tool was created to give our environment art team an easy way to create movement and add life to our game quickly.
Because we are a steampunk game, gears were essential. This tool allows for a few unique movements as well as the ability to create a gear train that automatically calculates the appropriate rotations for all the gears.
I also created a quick user guide for the team that explains all the tool’s functions.
Custom HLSL for the 'Chunky' Rotation using a step function.
Construction script for the Gear and Piston BP Tool. Determines movement based on public enumerator.
Setting the function's period based on the types of rotation (Smooth vs. 'Chunky').
Changes the direction of rotation when creating a gear train.